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Three graduates from the inaugural CNN Academy Abu Dhabi have been rewarded with internships at CNN Abu Dhabi, the network’s Middle East hub.
Under the leadership of Anchor & Managing Editor, Becky Anderson, and her team, Mohammed Abdelbary, Dana Abdulrahman, and Tasmiyah Randeree will work across editorial and technical roles at the bureau. They will also support CNN’s unrivalled Expo 2020 coverage, which will broadcast to the network’s global audiences from its special on-site presence in Dubai.
“I‘m absolutely thrilled to welcome Dana, Mohammed, and Tasmiyah to our crew for the next three months – they were outstanding participants of the first CNN Academy Abu Dhabi,” Becky Anderson said. “Not only are they enormously talented, but the skills they gained through our Academy programme shone through in their applications for these internships.”
CNN has maintained a commitment to identifying and fostering emerging talent from the region through various educational and training programmes. The network has offered around 30 internships to local and international talent during the past decade. These new, full-time, paid internships will take place over three months, and provide an invaluable extra layer of instruction and experience to further equip the interns for a successful career in the creative industries.
“This is a brilliant opportunity for these young journalists to work alongside some of the best at CNN,” Anderson added. “With a global event like Expo 2020 Dubai around the corner, this is an important time for the region, and they will be key team members working across our coverage.”
Mohammed Abdelbary will work on CNN’s flagship show from the region, Connect the World with Becky Anderson, assisting the team with editorial research, story preparation and production needs.
“Mohammed will play a key role on my show. He’ll have the chance pitch stories and treatment plans, he could find himself producing content for the show's social platforms, assisting with editing content, supporting our editorial and technical teams and more.” Anderson said. “He’ll work with us both at our Abu Dhabi hub and on outside broadcasts across the UAE, particularly at Expo 2020 Dubai.”
“Dana and Tasmiyah will be trained as floor managers,” Anderson continued. “They’ll learn the ropes in our Abu Dhabi bureau before moving to CNN’s Expo studio. There they’ll be instrumental in the smooth running of a live TV show, doing everything from providing scripts for our anchors, to making sure guests and talent are properly equipped on set. They’ll test our equipment, liaise with our control rooms at our Atlanta HQ, and find out exactly what it takes to build and operate a multi-camera outside broadcast studio. By the end of their internships, they could even be operating cameras alongside CNN photojournalists.”
